Luke Shearer

Thanks for this Jim, both yours and Don's work have that kind of effortless mastery and subtle beauty that makes you want to try harder rather than get discouraged at how much more there is to grow

1. Conner Michaux 2. Bruno 3. Brian Dougherty 4. Alex Middleton 5. MichaelP  6. Will Drake 7. Zeb Camper  8. Joël Mercier 9. Jeremy Blohm  10. Geoff Keyes 11. Jason Volkert 12. Pieter-Paul Derks 13. Michael Ward  14. Robert Dowse 15. Alan Longmire 16. Chris Briggs 17. Nikolai Briggs? 18. Jeff Heinen  19. Joshua States  20. JJ Simon 21. Clifford Brewer  22. Charles du Preez  23. Luke Sorensen 24. Chad Scott 25. Luke Shearer

sweet man! The overall grip shape is so elegant. What keeps the rubies/bezels affixed to the pommel?

Hey Justin, using roundstock for the iron is genius. I'm going to have to play with this more.

John deserves the fiery beard so hard!

Emiliano, looks to me like it was cremated and that built up that nice oxide layer, which was subsequently popped off when it was bent? The prominent global photo of the sword makes it look shinier than it really is I think. Some of the other photos show that central section up close and its a more matte surface but its reflecting light off the bent surface, which looks flat from straight on... still really well preserved

Thanks Collin! Kevin, I'll have to give that a try, as rivets seem more durable to me than stitching. I'm always a bit unsatisfied with simply tying off the thread.

Hi everyone, I guess its been a few years since I've really posted anything here. I still read the forum pretty frequently and thought I'd just check in with some knives I've just finished up and sent to their new owners. I don't know how my future in bladesmithing is going to look at this point since I just graduated from college with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering and I'm interviewing for jobs around the country. I don't know when I'll be able to start building, both literally and figuratively, a good space to work in again, but I definitely want to keep exploring the craft. I have been lucky to have a few really good repeat customers. The first two knives are going to the same guy, and he really makes sure to put knives through their paces, so these are made with that in mind. He gave me a lot of freedom with the design but stipulated that I not go to crazy with the ornamentation this time The first is kind of a medium sized belt knife and the second is a pretty large seax. My ability to grind a really good edge for a given task is still improving, but I got lucky on the seax and it's an incredible cutter. Its flat ground with a convexed edge. The kind that's razor sharp out of sanding. The polishing also revealed a broad/active auto-hamon, which for me has been a sign of an excellent heat treat. Its tough to see in the photo because I chose not to emphasize it in the finishing. Both blades are 1095 with beeswaxed veggie tanned leather. I tried and adding glue in addition to stitching to the seams this time and really liked the result. Very smooth sheath/welt transition. The fittings are wrought iron, and grips are stacked birch bark and figured crepe myrtle (might be my favorite handle material) from a tree I cut several months ago. I force-dried a few split sections in my kitchen oven for immediate use. Right around the lip of the sheaths, I like to make an even line of waxed surface that extends into the interior of the sheath, a detail I've really enjoyed making. (The leather button belt loop construction method is a Nate Runals rip off. First time trying it.) The last knife is a small patternwelded seax with walnut and Cu grip and bolster for a friend's nephew. Tooling on the sheath was basically graphic-designed on the fly, which can be fun sometimes. Cu sheath fittings.

Emiliano This is world-class stuff! Awesome accomplishment. What are you gonna do with the sword?

John, this is awesome. I love the engineering problems and solutions you came up with using period tools. I wonder if you're on to something with that serpent weld. Seems like a good way to avoid stock removal. Can't wait for you to be set free in a shop of your own with modern tools so you can work faster!

Man that's beautiful. Nice work!

Oh yeah! Love the look of that material. Nice job Michael!

Man you've been creating content at such a rate and style lately that its really inspiring. And your attitude about it is so great too. Its obvious across the internet and especially in person that you're totally doing it just for the joy that it brings and I think that really shows through in the thoughtfulness you put into your work.

Better watch it Emilliano....Gonna break that seax you sent me for a sheath if you aren't careful

Great work George! last one is my favorite